Chapter Twenty Four
Things were finally starting to settle down in Seireitei but everyone knew that it was only the start of another long drawn battle against Aizen Sōsuke. Muguruma Kensei was tired of that man — scratch that, he was fucking exhausted! The man who had caused them to go into forced exile, the man who caused them to have to live in the world of the living for years, the man who forced them to have to deal with living with a hollow inside of them.
He wanted to be the first to sucker punch him when they find him.
He heard a knock on the door. "Why the fuck are you knocking! Just en—" He yelled, expecting it to be one of his subordinates but turns out, it was just Ōtōribashi-taichō, an ally and a friend. He did not have much of them these days so having Shinji and Rōjurō around was nice.
"Yo! Kensei." Rose greeted
"Ah... Rose." Kensei nodded. "Grab a chair."
"I'm not staying long. I just came to extend an invitation." Rose said
"Invite? Are we going drinking?" The gray haired man asked and Rose shook his head
"Shinji and I are going to see Mashiro at the fourth." Kensei's spirit immediately dropped. "She's... uh, still in a coma. Kira told me just today so..."
"I'm not going." Kensei immediately rejected.
"... But she's our—"
"She was our ally." Kensei shot him down again. "I have no interest in going and I'm sure she has no interest in seeing us either. She made that very clear."
"... and when was that?" Rose asked and Kensei stayed silent. He was still very much salty about their encounter that night when that Kurosaki girl escaped from Mayuri's grasp.
"Doesn't matter. It doesn't take a genius to know that they fucking hate us, her included." Kensei said.
"Mashiro is not capable of hating people... this is Mashiro for crying out loud." Rose said. Kensei couldn't blame him. He thought that was true too at some point.
"I'm. not. going." Kensei slowly stressed every word and Rose sighed
"I'll tell her you said hi." He slipped away in defeat, leaving Kensei to the quietness in his thoughts.
Does that sound like a man who would care if I dropped dead right now? Mashiro's voice echoed in his head
"No." He told himself... but he was lying. What was the point if he started telling the truth now? He said she was incompetent... that was a complete lie otherwise she wouldn't have made it to being a vice captain in a fully male composed division. He said she was incapable of bringing the Kurosaki girl to her senses, yet she solved a big problem no one had the solution to solving. He said he didn't care... but truthfully, it ate at his conscience.
To him, this was punishment enough; knowing that most of what happened wouldn't have happened if he had vouched for her from the start. He was okay with carrying the burden of the twelfth division and most of their lost shinigami. He was okay with looking like an incompetent Captain to many because he lost a box of important documents in his own office then overreacted about it. He was okay with Mashiro hating him. He was okay with her never wanting to see him again. He didn't deserve her empathy or her support or even her friendship.
He had done some sketchy stuff long before they were exiled together. Yet she had forgiven him and moved on. Maybe because she didn't think it was worth it, maybe because they had more important things to worry about. But bottom line is, he continued to do questionable things to her so her drawing that line was expected. He didn't want to admit that it did weigh him down emotionally... but he didn't deserve anything that came with access to her.
Karin groaned as something sharp stung her eyes. What is that? She thought. It fucking burns. Her eyes opened and it was light... it was morning. Karin jolted awake, frightened. It feels like it had been ages since she had woken up. Karin held her chest and winced in pain before looking down the gown she was wearing.
A tattoo?... when did I get this?
She was confused and felt a pain in her back as well. She tried to get up but finally noticed the sound of a metal clanking against metal. There was a cold metallic feeling against her ankles and she looked down. She was in shackles and immediately felt scared. She tried to pull at the chains.
What is going on? Karin wondered
You should've listened to me. Karin's mind went to Angetsu and she stared at the dark figure who now sat in a cage. The landscape of her mind changed. It was no longer dark but more of a gray-scale theme. She could now make out his face. He had pale scale other than the side of his face which was covered in black freckles.
What happened? Karin asked
Have you forgotten? Angetsu asked and Karin was confused.
I... last I... you were...
Now I'm not in control. Angetsu said. Not that it matters. They're going to kill you anyways and your vessel will be useless.
You're lying. Karin thought frantically as she pulled harder at the chains. I did nothing wrong! They can't—
You act as though they haven't executed the wrong people before. Angetsu said. I'll go back into circulation for the next few centuries but... it's over for you, Kurosaki Karin.
"The hearing is the day after tomorrow." Isane announced to Rukia and Renji. Rukia stared in disbelief, wondering what has possessed the goteijūsantai. Nothing makes sense about this decision. They know she currently has memory loss but no one is taking that into consideration. Moreover, she herself is a victim of a crime and they glossed over that fact when it was supposed to be taken more seriously.
"This is absurd!" Rukia dropped her head in her hands.
"... I think Ichigo deserves to know." Renji said. "Maybe he'll talk sense into them."
"Kurosaki Ichigo... talk?" Isane questioned. "When his sister is facing an execution threat?"
"... this is all a mess." Rukia said. She couldn't comment anything else. If Ichigo came and tore this whole place apart, it was completely justified. In Rukia's eyes, no one was more precious to him than his little sisters.
"What are they charging her for?" Renji asked.
"Murder to the first degree and plotting and conspiring against Soul Society by aiding and abetting unlawful entry of ryōka." Isane said
"But they know her zanpakutō is corrupted." Renji sighed. "I hate to say this but it is the sōtaichō's fault because he's made poor choices that led to this."
"... On top of that, Hitsugaya-taichō and I were talking about something is very suspicious regarding her breaking out of the 12th division." Isane admitted. "When we admitted Karin to the fourth after Yuzu beat her, Fukazashi-san took a blood sample of hers. The results came back this morning. She had a strong sedative in her body that has full effect for 72 hours and traces remain for up to 48 hours after that."
"That would explain why she was so weak when she fought us." Renji said. "At least before she tricked us. Are you suspecting the men she was with did it?"
"That would be counterproductive." Rukia mentioned
"Exactly. Why weaken one of your strongest fighters and the crux of your plan deliberately? They probably took a while to attack to let her recuperate and take advantage of the opening which was the fourth patroling." Isane said. "Not only that but I believe Kurotsuchi-taichō did brag once about a breakthrough with strong sedation technology."
"That's a strong claim." Renji said. "So you don't think she could have broken out on her own? We know the Kurosaki's have some crazy reiatsu and will power."
"Ichigo is part hollow." Isane pointed out. "And we're talking about a sedative here... freshly injected into her system is at estimate the time she escaped to the time we extracted the blood sample. Even then, there is more that is off. We finally got around to looking into the autopsy of those who were killed at the 12th. The marks caused by death look more like hollow, circular wounds instead of katana marks."
"Circular wounds?" Renji questioned
"And on top of that... their deaths were odd." Kotetsu-fukutaichō noted. "Their wounds were not fatal considering that this is Soul Society. They bled to death."
"But... shouldn't reishi heal them... or keep them alive long enough for help to get there?" Renji asked
"Exactly." She nodded. "Considering they were conspiring with someone from kidō corps who knows how to drain reishi from the environment..."
"You suspect they broke her out?" Renji asked
"The marks look consistent with the zanpakutō that Nakamura Benjiro wields, Aohime." Isane said. "Karin's zanpakutō doesn't make marks like that. It makes gashes and random cuts... not circular penetration."
"But... still, conspiring." Renji said
"That would assume that Karin knew they were going to take her to the 12th." Isane said. "Even then, Kurotsuchi-taichō has some unethical practices when doing his experiments. She was here for medical care and he potentially posed harm on a human. By claiming she killed his division when she was broken out takes away from investigating his misdemeanor."
"That's your word against his." Renji claimed
"I know the law. I used to be your subordinate at the sixth." Isane pointed out and Renji couldn't disagree with that. "Besides, conspiring is also on the table. In addition to not knowing what was happening due to her medical condition, the people who broke her out and conspired with her were supposed to be dead by Soul Society's hand... falsely at that."
"So Soul Society's ruling will be the people we wrongfully charged and executed survived and tried to take revenge for that... so we will be fixing it by trying to execute them again." Rukia sarcastically quipped
"... I never said Soul Society's rules made sense." Renji said and Rukia groaned
"I'll stay here with you so that I can get a water tight case." Isane said
"I'll go tell Ichigo." Rukia said, picking up her zanpakutō.
"What about her father?" Renji asked
"Yoruichi went to get him. He's at the Shiba house and you know it's a three day trip on horseback." Rukia said
"And her sister and cousins?" Rukia looked downcast at this question.
"I'm going to get Ichigo." Rukia said before flashstepping out of the rokubantai office
Many had told him that he was a workaholic, but Tōshirō chose not to believe them... until today. The day before yesterday, he spent the first day of his suspension sleeping because he had not had a good night's sleep in what felt like weeks. Yesterday, he was filled with far too much energy and no way to exhaust it. He exercised, went for a run, read a book, tried to do paperwork but realised he couldn't then he exercised again. He tried jizen twice because it was the easiest way to pass time but Hyōrinmaru rejected it after a minute and said: deal with your damn issues.
And now he was fidgety and it was still morning.
He tried everything but nothing could sate how tried he felt. He sat on his veranda as he lit his fifth cigarette that day. He was a tad concerned that he has had more in a morning than he did in a regular week but if it was helping with the jitters then he did not care.
You're growing dependent
Shut up.
"Didn't take you for a smoker." Hitsugaya looked up, ready to retort a snarky comment to him but softened when he realised it was the jūsanbantai captain.
"Ukitake-taichō... what are you doing here?" Hitsugaya asked
"Now, now, now, Shiro-kun. We're on holidays. What is with the formalities?"
Tōshirō was dumbfounded. "We... were suspended."
"Take it as a holiday, we definitely needed it." Ukitake insisted.
As much as Hitsugaya complained before that he needed a break after such a long time, like his work plan, he planned his holidays as well. He was never one to stay at home because there was nothing to do at home. He would have gone to see his family in Jūnrinan or something.
Or something... Hyōrinmaru teased as memories flashed through his head unprovoked of things he did do when he had a break and was allowed to go to the world of the living. He shook it out and ignored the zanpakutō spirit. The thoughts were always there and they always made unwarranted appearances but now was not the time to dwell on the past. Especially considering the situation Karin was in.
"That doesn't really answer my question." Hitsugaya said, stubbing the cigarette even though it still had some life in it. He was not as insensitive as Kyōraku-taichō who smoked in the presence of an old man with lung disease.
"I came to keep you preoccupied." Jūshirō smiled. "I even brought shogi and food."
Hitsugaya was skeptical but let him in. It's not like he had any healthier habits of releasing his anxiety. Hitsugaya was not the biggest fan of shogi because it felt boring and oversimplified but playing Jūshirō was not so bad. He was a good opponent.
But old man still lost.
"That is expected from the genius." Jūshirō praised but Hitsugaya simply nodded and his mind strayed off. Ukitake noticed and cleared his throat as he picked up his lunch box. "Don't think too much about your suspension. It's just Yamaji being Yamaji."
"Mm..." Hitsugaya hummed.
"This isn't the first time I've been suspended." Ukitake joked. "Shunsei and I have gotten into some crazy things together when we were younger."
"I don't see that... at least on you." Hitsugaya admitted
"We are all young men at some point and that warrants trouble. Even Yamaji." He said
"I can't imagine Yamaji being young at all." Hitsugaya admitted. "In my eyes, he was born an old man."
"That may be true but the follies and dilemmas of young men are always a bit of a universal experience even if it appears as if he has forgotten." He claimed. "Are you not going to eat?" Hitsugaya let out a sigh before picking up the lunchbox and opening it.
"Thank you for the food." Hitsugaya nodded before digging in and they ate in silence until Ukitake spoke
"... I meant what I said... Yamaji was once young too." Ukitake said and Tōshirō looked up. "The sōtaichō isn't heartless. He will judge fairly."
Hitsugaya tsked and Ukitake sighed. "Kurosaki-chan has woken up and she's stable."
"Does she remember anything?" Hitsugaya asked
"I'm not aware of that. They just mentioned that she's awake." Ukitake said. "Her hearing is tomorrow."
"I'm in enough trouble as is." Hitsugaya said. "I'd rather keep my distance."
Jūshirō sighed. "At first, I was inclined to side with Yamaji... but then I saw how you conducted yourself these past few days. Everyone lost their heads except for you."
"How I wish that was true." Tōshirō sighed.
"May I ask a personal question?" Jūshirō asked
"Depends on how personal it is." The young Captain said.
"How close were you to Kurosaki-chan?" Ukitake asked. "If you're uncomfortable with me asking then—"
"I wish I were able to answer this question as honestly as I can but... I don't know." Tōshirō admitted. "I wish I did."
"May I ask why you think that?" Jūshirō cautiously asked, trying not to overstep his boundaries.
There was a short pause, as if Hitsugaya was trying to think of something. "I met her in the world of the living so that in itself is a bad sign. We long established an innocent friendship, played soccer and... I appreciated it because I felt as though I was allowed to be a child. But that was before I matured.
"When I was stationed on earth after her sister was taken to hell in that entire fiasco, a lot of things happened. A lot of grief, a lot of regret, a lot of fear, losing people we genuinely cared about... so we depended on each other for support. The nature of our relationship at this stage was... unclear which made sense. I could only see her for a few days or weeks and then disappear. I'm ashamed to be honest any time someone asks me that question because... I don't have an answer and with the things I am guilty of doing, you think I would.
"The reason why I didn't lose my head as you put it isn't because I was clear minded and focused... it's because I felt that I owed her at least by keeping her safe. It was selfish of me to have her be there for me any time I needed someone but desert her when she needed to be protected. But now that at least it is calm now... I'm scared to face her. Because if I don't have answers for anyone else... I can't imagine not having any answers for her. I could barely even face her father who was my former Captain... I can't imagine facing her especially when they insist she is placed in trial."
Hitsugaya was not a talkative person, especially in regards to his personal life so it always threw him off when he had to discuss that aspect with people. But Ukitake shocked him by being attentive and non judgemental. He sat quietly and listened to him the whole time.
"Tōshirō, nothing will happen to her." Ukitake claimed. "We're not going to let anything happen to her..." He simply smiled. "Are you enjoying the food?" He swiftly changed the topic. "I made it myself."
Hitsugaya was still a bit dazed by what happened but follows suit. "Mm... it's delicious." He nodded in agreement. He appreciated it but it was much more harder than that.
Ichigo looked at his phone for what felt like the millionth time in the span of two weeks. He was starting to get worried. No one had contacted him about how Karin was doing. It had been over a week since Yuzu was here and Tatsuki only found out recently that some of the missing person's cases were linked to Karin's.
Now he sat alone, playing video games on the TV because he had nothing better to do. Maybe his thesis but he had no motivation to go on with it and would probably submit his first draft at the last minute. He looked at the clock as well and noted that Tatsuki was late.
Working. His mind reminded him.
With that cop guy.
Ichigo knew she wasn't interested in him... but that didn't change how creepy he was. He knew she could take good care of herself but this was still a creep.
But why did care so much?
His relationship with his childhood friend was complex. Before they moved in together, he believed that never in a million years would the two of them ever happen. He still believes that... but now he had to deal with how he probably felt about her which was annoying in itself.
He was never one to think about love and romance. He was incredibly awkward in situations like that and romance made him uncomfortable. Orihime had understood that when they were together and she respected it — he's hoping she actually did because they never actually got to talk about how she really felt during their time together. The issue now is that Ichigo pretty much understood how he felt about his long time friend for a while now.
He was many things... but he wasn't daft.
He heard a knock on the door and sighed. "She must've forgotten her keys again." He told himself. "Oi! Next time, you're sleeping out—" He opened the door to be surprised by someone slightly taller than the dark haired girl.
"Yo! Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime grinned
"Inoue?" Ichigo stared at her in confusion. "What are you doing here in Tokyo? Aren't you supposed to be in Kyoto?"
"I... live in Shizuoka... remember?" Orihime said and Ichigo remembered she hadn't completed her nursing programme yet. He would have thought she would transfer or something but apparently not. "I was back home for a bit and went by your house to buy some medicine and say hi to your dad and sisters but no one was there. I went to Urahara's shop and he told me everything. I came to check in."
Ichigo smiled. "That's very sweet of you." He stepped aside to invite her in.
"I'm so sorry all that happened." She said as she came in and Ichigo closed the door behind him. "Have you heard nothing back?"
"Nothing at all." Ichigo shook his head. "I don't even know where to start."
Orihime looked downcast. "I was nearby. I should have helped."
"You couldn't have known." He shrugged
"Well, we're like family so whatever affects you and everyone else affects me." Orihime said as she sat down. "If we block each other out from our problems then who should we reach out to for help?"
Ichigo was surprised and almost impressed by how assertive she had become. "Interesting how you bring up 'blocking people out'." Ichigo joked and Orihime turned red in anger.
"That isn't important." She scolded him and he laughed
"Sorry, sorry." Ichigo said. "But thanks for coming. I was losing my mind alone here."
"I thought you lived with Tatsuki." Orihime wondered
"She's working." Ichigo said
"Ooh! Her cool detective job?" Ichigo frowned at her and Orihime laughed at him. At least she was a lot lighter than before. He tsked at her.
"Do you want tea?" He moved to the kitchen
"Why not coffee?" Orihime pouted
"It makes you hyper." He said.
"But I like it." She complained
"No."
"Wah!" She cried and Ichigo sighed
"Fine." He gave up.
"Yay!" She grinned and Ichigo rolled his eyes.
There was another knock on the door and Ichigo sighed. "Did you invite anyone else?" He asked
"No... but you needed the company." Orihime mentioned with a shrug.
"One person is enough." He huffed before putting the kettle to boil and walking to the door and opening it, in for another surprise. "Rukia?"
"Kuchiki-chan?" Orihime wondered out loud as she stood up to look past the entryway where the shinigami stood.
Karin groaned as she heard the door open with a loud screech and the light stung her eyes from the outside. She felt one of her hands being unshackled. "You don't look too well, child." The voice said. It was smooth, velvety and hushed. He unshackled the other. "I brought you food and water." He said. Karin groaned as she tried to focus in the dark and she could barely get a glimpse of his face.
"Who are you?"
"I'm someone you can trust." He said.
"How can I be sure of that?" She said. "Ever since I came here, people have been trying to kill me."
"Just eat and get your energy up." He probably noticed the scepticism on her face. "Please, it is not poisoned." He pleaded before creating a kaidō seal over her. "I will try to help you with your injuries but there is not much I can do in this state without raising suspicions."
"Why...?" Karin asked. "Why are you helping me?"
"... Because you're family." He said. "I apologise that I had to reach out under these strange circumstances. I wish you no harm and have wanted to reach out for so long. But I cold not."
"What is up with you shinigami and that phrase?" Karin moaned tiredly. All she had ever heard was 'cannot', 'could not', it was infuriating. There was a shout that she could not decipher but it grabbed the man's attention.
"I must go." He said.
"Wait... who-" Nothing more could be said because he left.
Author's note: This chapter used to be long AF (like 10k words... who has time to read or edit that?) but upon realising how much I cut out to make the story stay coherent, there is a lot of nuance and back stories that was lost. I know I could just divide it into chapters but my personal rule with reading is that I'm not going to structure my story in a way that I myself would never read. This part is going to be 60 chapters or less because I can never read stories that go longer myself. If I kept every single back story, guaranteed it would be a 100 chapters (this story has been sitting on my phone for years... I have multiple unedited docs of it). Is this stupid? Absolutely but it is what it is.
The parts I cut out don't affect the flow of the story. Some are about Ichigo because I originally planned for him not be there then I realised that to the extent of the story... it wouldn't make sense for him to not be involved unless I kill him off. If you're up to reading it, I'm posting them as one shots in another fic called "Before the Curse". It will be updated randomly. You don't have to read it to continue this story so it's up to you. It will always be marked as complete.
So that's it. Sorry for the long rant and happy reading :D